Goodbye hustle culture? Startup life between 24/7 grind and work-life balance

Sleep? Overrated. After work? A foreign word. Not so long ago, this was the unspoken motto of the start-up scene. People worked until the server was smoking; dark circles under the eyes were a status symbol and a high caffeine level was proof of performance. “Burnout” was not a spectre, but almost a medal of honor.

But this era is coming to an end: the days of spending every night in the office and plowing through pitch decks with club mate are officially over in 2024. Instead of all-nighters, young founders are now talking about sabbaticals, mindfulness and work-life balance. Many a veteran workaholic rubs their eyes in amazement – are they serious?

Farewell to the permanent grind

The glorious hustle years were not for the faint-hearted. Midnight in the co-working space – next to me, three co-founders are battling a caffeine coma while code and slides flicker on our screens. Pizza boxes and emptied Club Mate bottles stand in a line like trophies of a night out. We thought of ourselves as heroic marathon runners in the business Olympus; according to the motto: if you sleep, you lose.

Back then, anyone who went home at 8 p.m. was met with scornful questions as to whether they worked “part-time”. Hustle culture glorified the permanent grind: 60-hour weeks, an office couch instead of a bed and being constantly available – all this was considered a badge of honor. Tech gurus and investor “lions” fueled the trend, preached iron discipline and proudly announced that they had slept under the desk in the office or had not taken a vacation for a year. “I can sleep when I’m dead”, they claimed half-jokingly and quite seriously – and only accelerated their own wear and tear. Some people felt like a zombie in a hoodie at some point.

Sabbatical instead of 24/7

Today, it all sounds like folklore from the Silicon Valley archives. Generation Z considers continuous overwork to be as attractive as a fax machine in the home office. Work-life balance is no longer a dirty word, but the new status symbol. Suddenly, people are allowing themselves time off: The sabbatical – once an exotic privilege for burnt-out managers – is becoming a must-have in startup life.

In a meeting the other day, a 28-year-old CEO announced after a successful financing round that he was now going to take two months off in Bali. I almost spilled my coffee. In the past, a sentence like that would have triggered an incredulous frown; today, everyone in the room nods in agreement and pats him appreciatively on the back.

How can you tell in 2024 that the hustle culture is passé? By these signs, for example:

• Meeting requests after 6 p.m. are considered a faux pas – keyword: holy evening.
• Startups advertise with a 4-day week and “unlimited vacation” instead of free pizza and overtime bonuses.
• There are smoothies and oat milk in the fridge, while the energy drink collects dust in storage.
• Companies send employees to a mindfulness retreat where a hackathon weekend used to be scheduled.

In short: the reward is no longer the all-nighter, but finishing work on time. Surveys show that many working people would rather forgo a salary than sacrifice their entire life to their job – an idea that would have been considered heresy just a few years ago. Even investors are slowly realizing that well-rested founders make better decisions than overtired zombies.

Self and constantly – and now?

As someone who has been working myself and constantly for 25 years, I just shook my head at first. I was used to a working week that didn’t include Sundays or public holidays. When a young team asked me not to make an appointment after 7 p.m., I initially felt like I was being taken for a ride. Free time? I’d only heard about it before.

But my understanding of work is changing – forcibly and with a pinch of humility. Some time ago, I caught myself closing my laptop at 6:30 pm and actually going home, even though there was still unfinished business waiting for me. An almost rebellious feeling! The family was amazed, as was the dog. And lo and behold, the next morning my head was clearer and the to-do list suddenly seemed half as scary.

I experience this cultural change every day in my office. The phone used to ring at 10 p.m. on Sundays because something always seemed urgent somewhere. Today, startup founders write me emails late at night wishing me a good night and suggesting that I continue the next day. At first I was perplexed. Now I smile – and confidently leave my smartphone behind.

There’s something liberating about shifting down a gear after decades in 24/7 mode. Of course, my ambition still often gets the better of me, and yes, sometimes I miss the adrenaline rush of the night shifts. But if the younger generation has taught me one thing, it’s this: Success can also be measured by how you live, not just how long you work.

In the meantime, even an old workaholic like me can get something out of the much-vaunted work-life balance. Goodbye hustle culture – ironically, this change doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen. Who would have thought that well-rested founders are more creative and that taking a break is not a sign of weakness?

On that note: rest in peace, Hustle Culture – we’ll be going home on time.

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.